New book explores life of Illinois' first black state legislator

BERNARD SCHOENBURG

Friday

Mar 23, 2012 at 12:01 AMMar 23, 2012 at 10:23 PM

SPRINGFIELD -- David Joens, director of the Illinois State Archives, had long known that Adelbert Roberts, who was elected in 1924 and is the subject of a statue in the Statehouse rotunda, was the first black member of the Illinois Senate.

SPRINGFIELD -- David Joens, director of the Illinois State Archives, had long known that Adelbert Roberts, who was elected in 1924 and is the subject of a statue in the Statehouse rotunda, was the first black member of the Illinois Senate.

But Roberts wasn’t the first black to serve in the Illinois General Assembly. That distinction belongs to Chicagoan John W.E. Thomas – a fact Joens learned only after serving a stint as press secretary for the Senate’s black caucus.

Joens, 50, of Springfield, was writing a newsletter for the Cook-Witter Inc. lobbying firm about 14 years ago, when he learned about Thomas.

“I think I was a little embarrassed that I hadn’t heard who he was,” Joens said. “He was a fascinating guy who no one had ever studied or done anything on.”

Joens did more research into Thomas’ life, and Thomas eventually became the subject of Joens’ master’s thesis and his dissertation for his doctorate in history, which he received from Southern Illinois University-Carbondale in 2009.

With some changes and updates, that dissertation is now a book — “From Slave to State Legislator: John W.E. Thomas, Illinois’ First African American Lawmaker” (Southern Illinois University Press, $34.95).

Joens will have a book signing and discussion at Wednesday at the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Museum in Springfield.

About a dozen other black lawmakers elected to the House before Roberts was sent to the Senate, Joens said. Thomas served his first term starting in 1877. He wasn’t immediately re-elected, but he went on to serve two more terms in the 1880s.

Thomas, who had been a slave owned by a doctor’s family in Alabama, moved to Chicago in 1869. He became a prominent attorney and was “the recognized leader of the state’s black community for nearly 20 years,” said a news release from the book’s publisher. He was believed to be the wealthiest black man in Chicago when he died in 1899.

He also had a key role in passing Illinois’ first civil rights act.

The book, researched through a variety of newspapers from the time, as well as the state archives —which Joens has overseen since 2004 — goes into extensive detail about political processes and personalities of time.

Joens said he’s proud to be shedding some light on Illinois’ black leadership during the 19th century.

“These were people who were movers and shakers in their community for 30, 40 years, and have not been picked up by history,” Joens said.

Joens, who was born in Springfield and grew up in Joliet and Lombard, returned to the capital city 22 years ago as a legislative studies intern through the University of Illinois Springfield and worked with Senate Democrats. He later worked at UIS and has been with the secretary of state’s office since 2000, including his current job at the archives. He said Springfield is a great place to do the kind of research he has done, including the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Museum, which houses a range of historical information far beyond that pertaining to the 16th president.

“I lived in their newspaper section,” Joens said.

Bernard Schoenburg can be reached at (217) 788-1540.

Want to go?

What: Discussion and signing of “From Slave to State Legislator: John W.E. Thomas, Illinois’ First African American Lawmaker,” by David Joens.